West Breaks Hammer Record as WPU Competes in Finale Regular Season Meets
Des Moines/Indianola–Xzavion West (Jr., Guthrie, Ky., Undecided) charges into the postseason with a full head of steam as he paced the William Penn men’s track and field teams over the weekend.
The Statesmen competed at three different meets during the weekend, including the Grand View Viking Classic, the Drake Relays, and the Simpson Kip Janvrin Open.
Grand View
West topped the hammer throw competition with a new school-record mark of 192-10. He surpassed the old mark of 191-1, set by Derek Robinson from 2018.
The junior also placed fourth in both the discus (143-9) and shot put (49-8.25).
William Penn notched three event wins in Des Moines with Travaughn Robbins-Hall (Fr., Lauderhill, Fla., Software Engineering) also leading the 100-meter dash field in 10.93 seconds. The 4×100-meter relay squad took gold as well in 42.58 seconds.
Robbins-Hall also finished 11th in the 200 (23.23).
John Webb (So., Dothan, Ala., Mechanical Engineering) and Micah Mills (So., Houston, Texas, Psychology) paced the navy and gold in the horizontal jumps. Webb was second in the long jump at 22-7.75, while Mills took runner-up in the triple jump as well at 45-3.5.
Emanuel Johnson (Sr., Brooklyn, N.Y., Industrial Technology) placed third in the 100 in 11.01 seconds, while Nick Marshall (Jr., Glenpool, Okla., Human Services) also earned bronze, doing so in the hammer throw at 163-3. Marshall placed sixth in the discus as well (133-5).
Jaden Loveless (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa, Industrial Technology) finished in sixth place in the 400-meter dash (53.90), Christopher Smith (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) was eighth in the 200 (22.80), and Rylee Scott (Jr., Maxwell, Iowa, Exercise Science) ended up ninth in the shot put (40-0).
Drake
The distance medley relay crew finished fourth at the Relays in a time of 10:20.75, while Anthony Weaver (So., Demopolis, Ala., Mechanical Engineering) took sixth in the triple jump at 47-8.5.
Showalter Johnson (Sr., Nassau, Bahamas, New Media) placed 11th in the 100 in 10.53 as well, while D’Artagnon Beaver (Sr., Rockford, Ill., Human Services) was 23rd in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:10.63.
Simpson
Andrew Miller (So., Le Claire, Iowa, Exercise Science) had WPU’s top finish at the Open by placing 11th in the steeplechase in 9:46.75.
Ethan Varvelo (Sr., Channelview, Texas, Engineering Technology) notched a pair of top-half finishes in a huge meet, taking 40th in the 1,500-meter run (4:07.19) and 51st in the 800-meter run (1:59.57).
Gavin Huff (Fr., Mascoutah, Ill.) was just in front of Varvelo in the 800, hitting the line in 1:59.23.
“We had some strong performances this weekend on all stages, and are definitely hitting our stride coming into the conference weekend,” Head Coach Victoria Vinokur said. “D’Artagnon Beaver had a solid showing at Drake, while Xzavion West took down a big record. This is exactly where we want to see our athletes this time of year.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Fayette, Mo. next Friday and Saturday to compete in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship.
